Pisa with guide Mattai and climb option - We were a family of 8, including 20 year olds to 80 year olds. The tour guide, Mattai, was easily identifiable after we disembarked our MSC cruise in La Spezia. We took a shuttle from the ship to the terminal. It was 5 minutes. We saw Mattai with his green shirt. We were early so waited for bus driver, Luca. Mattai explained everything about Pisa on the way. The bus was air conditioned and had wifi but no restroom for 50 minutes to Pisa. So keep that in mind. We opted for a tour guide and climbing Leaning Tower of Pisa. Guide talked us thru the entire property from the bus, so we had a feel for time from bus to town. He pointed out each building but didn't repeat what he said on the bus. We were given maps that were self-explanatory. Mattai was friendly, funny, and knowledgeable about Pisa. Luca was an excellent driver. It was rainy hard but we felt safe. Thanks again for a great experience.

Perfect trip to see the Leaning Tower at Pisa - Great trip from our cruise ship docked at La Spezia to Pisa and back. We just wanted to see the tower, so this 'no frills' trip was exactly what we wanted. Excellent, friendly and knowlegdgeable tour guide and a very comfortable coach transfer.

Super Easy way to Pisa - Easy to find tour guide right at City Cruise Terminal easy Courtesy Bus from and to ship Nice descriptions along the way to and from Pisa, enough time in Pisa to enjoy cafe and all sites there is also a nearby bus for $1.70 if tired of walking… also WC cost $1

Tour guide was very professional. - Federico was very professional. He explained the local culture and information about Tuscany. He is an excellent guide. The tour met my expectations.

Not our favorite but did the job - This really is just transportation to and from with little more to add. So for that, it was a little pricy. The bus was comfortable and had air conditioning. The buses have to park a distance out from the actual center of Pisa which required some walking but nothing too difficult. My advice would be to book a tour that spends 1-2 hours in Pisa and continues on to another location. You really don’t need to spend 4.5 hours in Pisa.

What to expect - Take the shuttle from the ship to the terminal. You'll meet your guide outside the terminal. Guide will be in a green jacket. It's a very beautiful ride into Pisa. Some people will be on the bus just for the ride into Pisa. Others will be there for the walking tour. We chose the walking tour with tickets into the Leaning Tower. Once you arrive into Pisa, those on the walking tour will follow the guide to the Tower area (about a 10 minute walk). [If you paid for entrance to the Tower, your guide will give the tickets to you during the bus ride into Pisa.] Pay attention to your surroundings as you walk to the Tower. You'll be on your own when you walk back to the bus. The guide will also provide you with a QR code to download the location of the bus at all times. Personally I had a problem with the download. The guide will alsonprovide youbwith their personal phone number. You'll have about 10 minutes to yourself before you meet at the fountain outside the main gate to the tower. I recommend you use this time to use the facilities. You'll need 1 Euro to use the toilet on the Tower campus. They do provide Euro change at the "water closet" (WC). Or you can take your chances at one of the local coffee shops. But note the local shops have only one toilet, and there's typically a line. Once you meet up with your guide, you'll proceed on your walking tour. Our guide, Martina, did not take a head count when we met up with her for the walking tour and one group did not comply with her timing instructions, so they were left behind. Martina was very nice but we were provided with no listening devices and she had no gear to magnify her voice, so marks off for that. Once you finish the walking tour, you'll wind up back at the Tower for your appointed time printed on your Tower ticket which is good for plus or minus 15 minutes. From there, you're on your own. You'll have about one hour or a little more to walk back to the bus. The climb up to the top of the Tower is a VERY COOL experience. You'll definitely want to do that. Relish the bucket list moment. But, if you want to spend more time in the area and check out the churches or just walk around, I recommend that you skip the walking tour and get your own tickets to the Tower. If you do the walking tour, you will have a little more time to explore, BUT you'll be nervous about making it back to the bus on time. So, that takes away from the experience. The tour guide WILL tell you they'll leave without you if you're not back on time. Hope this description of what to expect helps.

Pisa -so crowded - so cool - When you first walk through the gate to see the tower and surrounding buldings it's a wow moment. We had about 2 1/2 hours to spend there that included a one hour waling tour of the city, shops, and canal. That was a nice introduction to Pisa. An hour and half to spend on your own seemed like too much time to spend given the crowds. Overall the tour was really a hand holding exercise to get you to and from La Spezia cruise port to the site (a little over an hour each way) and back with the one hour walking tour as a sidebar given the size of the group and no whispers. Further, the operator was giving instructions on the bus for multiple tours which made it somewhat confusing. Overall, it's perhaps worth maybe seeing once (others may disagree), but not again. An average experience. Take note that the tour is longer than advertised.

Iconic tower & cathedral.... - Iconic tower & cathedral. Difficult to locate guides as they wore jackets over the ‘green’ shirts!! ******************************************

Never again we had no way back to ship - Well it started out just fine, we had to wait about 10-15minutes for late arrivals when we departed for Pisa. In the way we had to stop and switch buses because of a problem. We were given a 1:00 pass to tour the tour we finished and went straight to bus which we were 5 min late for and it left without us!

Pisa optional leaning tower ticket excursion. - Let me start out to say our tour guide Giada was great. However the rest of the tour was an absolute nightmare. First the meeting point was not where advertised on the ticket. It was raining so we passed our tour guide multiple times because she was wearing a jacket zipped up covering her green shirt and we almost missed our board time because the meeting point was a street adjacent to where it was mapped. So I advise you have a guide wear a green jacket too during inclement weather. Before the bus ride transportation, I had an email stating that I could buy a ticket to enter the Leaning tower of Pisa for a special price of $30 on the bus itself do to a previous issue with viator. I had asked our tour guide and showed her the email informing her that I could buy a ticket on the bus and she stated that that has never been done before. However she told me she would reach out to her supervisor. There was no update and the time we had arrived to Pisa the tickets were sold out for the time we needed. Therefore we could not go into the tower or the cathedral. If this would have been the case we would have chosen a different excursion completely. My wife and I are from the United States so it is not like we can just come back next week and it will be okay. This was a once in a lifetime chance and we are heavily dissatisfied and disappointed in how things were promised and given.